The Heights Feb. 19, 2015

Page 1

THE ITALIAN JOB

THE BIG DIG

A FLEA IN THEATRE

SPORTS

METRO

SCENE

Marti Mosetti is loving life in the United States, B8

Frank Ippolito discusses his snow removal company and his fondness for the snow, A8

BC’s theatre department puts on Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare, B2

www.bcheights.com

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

established

1919

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Vol. XCVI, No. 10

On the eve of vote, UGBC candidates debate issues

Teams connect debate questions to key platform themes BY MUJTABA SYED Asst. Features Editor

ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Underwater and overwhelmed 2000 Commonwealth Ave., Plex are latest casualties of winter water damages BY CAROLYN FREEMAN News Editor

A

round 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, the apartment building at 2000 Commonwealth Ave. experienced a massive leak. All residents were evacuated and told to find other accommodations for the night. Students were directed to stay in the Courtyard Marriott of Brookline, in Robsham Theater, or with friends. According to several residents, some students had trouble finding housing and resorted to wandering around the neighborhood at 3 a.m. looking for a place to sleep. A pipe broke on the 10th floor—likely due to freezing, but the exact cause is still unknown—and water began to cascade down the building to the basement level, according to Chief of BCPD John King. The leak has since been stopped, and repair is underway. Water from the leak is currently being extracted from rooms

See Water Damage, A8

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLI PARENT

The three candidate teams running for president and executive vice president (EVP) positions in the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) participated in a debate on Wednesday night in the Vanderslice Cabaret Room. The discussion centered on contentious campus issues and each team’s platform points. Hosted and organized by the Elections Committee, the event spanned nearly two hours and included questions from a variety of student groups directly related to UGBC’s advocacy efforts. The structure of the debate gave the Elections Committee roughly half an hour at the outset to ask questions that would be answered by all three teams. The next half hour was devoted to questions from representatives of Diversity and Inclusion, including the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) and the GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC). After this hour of questioning, all were allowed a two-minute rebuttal in which they could clarify existing points or expand upon aspects that had not yet been discussed. The final portion of the debate allowed audience members to submit questions to the Elections Committee either through OrgSync or on paper at the debate, after which each team ended with a one-minute statement. To begin, the three candidate teams of James Kale, LSOE ’16, and Jose Altomari, A&S ’16; Cassidy Gallegos, LSOE ’16, and Michael Keefe, A&S ’16; and Thomas Napoli, A&S ’16 and Olivia Hussey, A&S ’17, each took turns

answering the Election Committee’s questions—generally on issues that have either commonly arisen during UGBC presidential elections and those that are integral to the job of the president and EVP. At times, each candidate team tied its answers to specific EC questions back to the larger themes of its platforms. On the subject of tobacco’s place on BC’s campus, Napoli pointed to each student’s right to a safe and healthy campus environment to combat converse arguments about students’ right to smoke, indicating that he would pursue a tobacco-free agenda. Similarly, in a discussion on campus diversity, Napoli and Hussey suggested policy changes such as the hiring of a vice president of diversity that must accompany important dialogues on campus as necessary steps to fully unlock students’ ability to fully express their voices on campus. In response to questions about binge drinking on campus, Gallegos and Keefe tied the push to promote healthier practices to their broader platform focus on mental health. “A lot of the things we’re talking about tonight are so interconnected,” Gallegos said. “Many statistics show that [binge drinking] is prevalent here at BC … we have a lot of tangible steps in place that might not make binge drinking end in one year, but will try to make sure students are taking care of themselves both mentally and physically.” Conversely, Kale and Altomari’s response to the same question centered on initiatives that UGBC can pursue to better educate students on safe uses of alcohol, while Napoli and Hussey pointed to a toxic environment between students and the Dean of Students (DOS) due to the number of write-ups at BC and administrative handling of their cases. Both teams also plan on pushing

See Debate, A3

BC film startup Exposure refocuses on city clients, creative work A dorm room project turned professional undertaking, Exposure extends focus beyond BC BY BENNET JOHNSON Metro Editor Max Prio, CSOM ’16, and Ryan Reede, A&S ’16, lived across the hall from each other during their freshman year. Neither expected they would be filming videos together on a daily basis just two years later. Reede walked by Prio’s room one day and noticed that Prio was editing video footage on his laptop screen. The two struck up a lively conversation about their passion for filmmaking during the first week of school, only to never speak of the matter again throughout their freshman year.

One year later, Prio won a film contest hosted by Hyundai to promote a commercial for Boston College. Recalling Reede’s passion for film, Prio reached out to his former neighbor, and the two worked together to create their video, “Boston College Fan Loyalty.” “Creating the video with Ryan was really our first eye-opening experience with video content and seeing that it was a necessity on campus,” Prio said. During a meeting with the CubanAmerican Student Association (CASA), Prio realized he had the potential to tap into a fresh market at BC. Prio showcased the Hyundai promotional video along with some of his personal projects to as-

sistant director of Student Organizations Karl Bell, and the remaining members of the CASA. Bell was fascinated by the video, and argued that every organization on campus needed a promotional video—one that delves into the details of these groups so students can have a greater understanding about what some of the hundreds of clubs and organizations do at BC. “There are all of these videos that convince you to come to BC, but once you get here there isn’t really any big resource to push you in the direction of certain organizations on campus,” Prio said. “That was something we wanted to change.” Following the Hyundai promotional commercial, Prio and Reede began receiving video requests nearly every day from CLARE KIM / HEIGHTS STAFF

See Exposure, A4

Exposure Productions’ latest endeavor has been collaborating on the BC series Mod of Cards.

Olympic plans exclude BC, with technical problems at heart of the issue Difficulties with Conte Forum could keep BC from contributing to Boston 2024 bid BY BENNET JOHNSON Metro Editor According to Olympic officials, potential technical operational issues with Conte Forum are currently precluding Boston College from inclusion in early talks of Boston’s Olympic bid. Two weeks ago, Boston 2024 officials and

Mayor Martin J. Walsh, WCAS ’09, addressed a crowd of more than 300 Bostonians for the first time in public and answered questions about the city’s potential olympic bid. Many of the events plan to be held on college and university campuses across the city—what Boston 2024 officials referred to as the “University Cluster.” John Fish, chairman of Boston 2024 and chair of the BC Board of

Trustees, explained that a cluster of universities, including Harvard, MIT, and Boston University, are scheduled to host a majority of the athletic events. Thus far, BC has been left out of Boston 2024 Olympic plans “BC was originally in the proof of concept plans to host some events at Alumni Stadium and Conte Forum,” John Fitzgerald, a senior project manager from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the liaison between the city and the Boston 2024 Organizing Committee, said in an email. “Some folks at the USOC saw potential technical operational

issues with Conte Forum, so it was left out for the time being. As these concepts evolve, I imagine BC will play some role in hosting the Games, be it an event or another use that would occupy their facilities.” University spokesman Jack Dunn was previously unaware of Boston 2024’s decision to potentially omit the University from its plans to host the Olympic Games, although he believes that BC’s location in Chestnut Hill is one factor that led Boston 2024’s executive decision. “My sense is it might have to do with loca-

tion,” Dunn said. “The Olympic Committee has stated that they’d like to host events in closer proximity to downtown Boston and the core train stops. As we have said, we are happy to work with the Mayor and the Olympic committee to determine ways in which we may be of service. Boston 2024 leaders and city officials will host a series of public meetings that will run through September. According to Walsh, the bid is currently in a concept phase and no final decisions have been made regarding venues and transportation. 


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